Hamilton County GOP Chair George Vincent: Soon To Exit?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- CityBeat's Kevin Osborne is reporting Hamilton County GOP Chairman George Vincent will depart no later than mid-April. He is supposed to be replaced by a sitting Common Pleas Court Judge who plans to resign his $120,000-a-year job for the partisan post overseeing the state's richest urban countywide political organization -- an organization whose grip has begun to ebb.

Judge Alex Triantafilou is currently seeking election to the judgeship, which was an appointment from former Gov. Bob Taft. According to CityBeat's Osborne, when Triantafilou drops out of the race to step in as GOP chair -- he does not have a Democratic opponent for the judgeship --the Republican party will name a replacement candidate for the November ballot. Osborne says the dealmakers already have made their choice: Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Russell J. Mock.

What's interesting about all this? If the changes indeed take place, judgeships get shuffled and voters have little sway over who fills these important elected offices. Instead, all the decisions get made by political insiders. Is that the kind of democracy John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had in mind when they created the Republic?

If Bogus, Cincy Blog Allegedly By GOP Chair May Be 'Invasion of Privacy'

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- An Ohio Supreme Court ruling last month for the first time recognized in the state a right to seek damages in cases where publicity portrays the person in a "false light." The case might have a bearing on a satirical blog called AngryGeorge, which is purportedly written by Hamilton County GOP Chairman George Vincent. Among other things, it has described him as using drugs.

The Bellwether reported Thursday that AngryGeorge was up and running. In a 5-2 decision June 6, the Ohio Supreme Court said it was concerned about the First Amendment, but said privacy rights were important, too.

"In Ohio, we have already recognized that a claim for invasion of privacy can arise when true private details of a person's life are publicized. The right to privacy naturally extends to the ability to control false statements made about oneself. Without false light, the right to privacy is not whole, as it is not fully protected by defamation laws."

Justice Paul Pfeiffer, who wrote the decision, also said:

"In Ohio, one who gives publicity to a matter concerning another that placed the other before the public in a false light is subject to the other for invasion of privacy if (a) the false light in which the other was placed would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and (b) the actor had knowledge of or acted in reckless disregard as to the falsity of the publicized matter and the false light in which the other would be placed."

Libel and defamation are difficult for anyone to prove. But they are virtually impossible cases for public officials and public figures to win, and GOP chairman Vincent would probably fall into both categories. However, false light might give him a door to step through if he chooses to take legal action. So far, there's been no public indication of his thinking. (All this is predicated on one fact: Vincent is not really AngryGeorge.)

Many legal scholars have warned the blogosphere -- which by nature has been rough-and-tumble with anonymous snark and unrestrained speech -- might be ripe for lawsuits that challenge its Wild West frontier nature. Consider this: Could a blog that is found taking liberties with the identity of its become the scene of a legal shootout at the OK Corral, could its appearance end up taming the Wild West?

The full-text of the Ohio Supreme Court ruling is available HERE (pdf) and grew out of a particularly nasty neighborhood feud in Stark County. One set of neighbors posted handbills at a school and job site accusing the others of vandalism. There was more to it than that, of course, but the allegations of criminal conduct were major parts of the false light claims.

Cincinnati's Republican Chair: Dust-Farting Sissies In GOP?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A chunk of the Ohiosphere is now occupied by insurgent bloggers. Or the chairman of a major Republican political organization in this state has slipped his mental moorings. Probably the former.

Why else would something like this appear attributed to AngryGeorge, who is supposed to be the 'sphere's alter ego of Hamilton County GOP Chairman George Vincent:

"Simon Leis is a dust-farting sissy. Ever since Pat DeWine decided to act like a conservative on this jail tax, Simon Leis has been flapping his dentures as though anybody in this town actually gives a flying crap what he says. No, wait a minute. I'm giving that sack of bones too much credit."

A satirical blog that probably is a cleverly honed bit of culture-jacking has bubbled up on Google's Blogger replete with a logo showing a Democratic donkey about to mount a Republican elephant. And the mount is not for a ride on the elephant's back. This blog punks DeWine, a Hamilton County commissioner who is former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine's son, and Simon Leis, a former prosecutor, judge and now the sheriff.

Expect this to be traced back to the anti-tax movement; more specifically the suspects are probably people opposed to a local tax increase that is earmarked to build a new jail.

If the straight-laced Vincent is actually the author, expect a mushroom cloud to appear over Cincinnati any second. This would be a real political meltdown, a moment that would make Toledo's Democratic stripper-gate seem like putt-putt at Cedar Point. Vincent is a corporate lawyer who owns a piece of the Cincinnati Reds. Anyhow, AngryGeorge has quite a way with words.

"As the greatest and most respected leader in the history of the Hamilton County Republican Party, I was repulsed by the ass-kicking we got last November, largely due to the fact that the candidates we put up last year sucked like a girlfriend I had back in law school."

Inquiring minds want to know: Is it proper, and legal, to steal someone's identity and use it as the creator and author of a blog? Is it a political dirty trick if it turns out the real author/creator is a Democrat, or somebody affiliated with the party? What are the rules about this kind of stuff, should there be rules, and does it erode the credibility -- if there is any credibility -- of the Ohiosphere?